The Detroit Lions begin their pursuit of the franchise's first Super Bowl tonight as they host the Washington Commanders at Ford Field in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. The Lions (15-2) are the No. 1 seed as the NFC North champions and the Commanders (13-5) come in as the No. 6 seed fresh off their Wild Card win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last weekend.
Here are five things to watch out for in this matchup:
1. Limiting Jayden Daniels
Washington's rookie quarterback threw for 268 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions and led the Commanders' rushing attack with 36 yards in the win over the Bucs in the Wild Card Round. He's been one of the most impressive rookie quarterbacks to come into the NFL in some time.
During the regular season, he completed 69 percent of his passes for 3,568 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions for a 100.1 passer rating. He also rushed for 891 yards and six touchdowns, and that's where he's really been able to hurt teams with that dual-threat option.
"His demeanor and how calm he is, I mean, it pops out all over the TV copy when you watch the TV copy, and another thing that pops out is, he's having fun playing this game, which we all should, but you can tell that he's having fun, and there's no better way to play this game than when you're in a situation where you're having fun," Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said of Daniels this week.
"He's not taking this for more than what it is, he understands what his skillset is, and he's utilizing everybody on that offense to make him better. It's almost like he's trying to be a point guard, and he's just delivering and leading."
Glenn put together a terrific game plan against Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings the last time out. Can he create a disciplined pressure plan that collapses the pocket on Daniels while mixing up coverages behind it to try and confuse the rookie?
2. David Montgomery's return
Jahmyr Gibbs has been terrific carrying the load in Montgomery's absence the last three weeks as he was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for December and January. Gibbs rushed for 365 yards and five touchdowns, adding 122 receiving yards and a score the last three weeks playing without his running mate Montgomery, who's been rehabbing a sprained MCL in his knee suffered vs. Buffalo Dec. 15.
With Montgomery back in the fold, the Lions have a tough, between-the-tackles chain mover to complement Gibbs, who has the hot hand right now and is likely to head into the contest 1A to Montgomery's 1B, which is just fine with Montgomery.
"Jah is special. He's a generational talent," Montgomery said this week. "I didn't expect anything less of him. Jah is going to roll. Whatever he needs from me, I'm going to make sure he has but this is kind of his show."
3. Fourth down at a premium
Head coach Dan Campbell is well known for his aggressiveness on fourth down. Detroit's 33 fourth-down attempts were fourth most in the NFL this season. Meanwhile Washington has the highest fourth-down percentage in the NFL this year. They have converted 20 of the 23 times they went for it on fourth down (87 percent).
Washington was 3-for-5 on fourth-down conversions in the Wild Card win over Tampa Bay, as head coach Dan Quinn didn't hesitate on fourth down when he went for it on 4th & 2 from the Tampa 20-yard line on the Commanders' opening drive.
With both sides likely viewing touchdowns at a premium in this matchup, we could see some key fourth down moments. The team that prevails at a higher clip will likely have an edge tonight.
4. Get the run game rolling
The biggest discrepancy looking at the rankings comparison between these two teams is the Lions' sixth-ranked rushing attack against the Commanders' 30th ranked rushing defense. Washington allowed on average 137.5 yards on the ground per game this season. Only New Orleans (141.4) and Carolina (179.8) allowed more.
Everything Detroit does offensively is predicated on the run. They want to be a physical football team first and build their big plays in the passing game off the play-action looks that creates.
Over 50 percent of the runs against the Commanders' defense this year went for four-plus yards. They allowed the fifth most 10-plus-yard rushes (64) and fifth most 20-plus-yard rushes (14).
Detroit averaged 146.4 rushing yards per game and will look to establish that early and often to open up their entire playbook, win the time of possession and keep Daniels and the Commanders' offense on the sideline.
5. Robertson vs. McLaurin
It was a breakout game of sorts for Lions veteran cornerback Amik Robertson the last time out for Detroit as he drew the assignment of covering Vikings All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson and only allowed two receptions in six passes in his coverage.
"When he first came in here, I always said I knew what type of player Amik is," Lions rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold said of his veteran teammate this week. "Although the world got to see it, I already knew he was that."
McLaurin caught seven passes for 89 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown in Washington's win over Tampa Bay last week. He is Daniels' favorite target, catching 82 passes for 1,096 yards and 13 touchdowns in the regular season.
Glenn spoke very highly of McLaurin this week.
"He's highly, highly competitive, he does a really good job on 50-50 balls, which you wouldn't think that he would because of his stature (6-0, 210), but he does a really good job of that," he said.
"He kind of reminds me of how (Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint goes about, because he will block, he'll go across the middle, he'll take hits, he'll get back up, get back to the huddle, so he's a gamer. He's a gamer, so it doesn't surprise me, the success he's having."
We're likely to see Robertson on McLaurin often tonight. Can Robertson limit him like he did Jefferson two weeks ago?
